Significant roster questions remain for LSU less than a week before its Nov. 3 home opener.
No question looms larger than that of RJ Luis’ status with the program. The former St. John’s star, who signed an NBA contract, can play for LSU until Nov. 13 without fear of repercussions from the Southeastern Conference, which would impose severe penalties on the program.
Before anyone could ask coach Will Wade about adding Luis to his team, he addressed the matter in his opening statement at Thursday’s media availability.
“Before I take questions, I’d like — thought all of our eligibility stuff was over — but I’d like to talk about some eligibility stuff,” he said. “But I’m not talking about that. I can’t talk about that in light of what happened yesterday, or the other day, or whatever it was. But I want to be clear about this. I think I’ve made my stance very clear on things. And my stance has not changed, and I will be happy to talk about the 14 guys that are on our roster. And so let’s keep it to that.”
During Wade’s response to a question on contingency plan should a pair of fifth-year UCLA transfers were to lose their eligibility in the courts, he said his roster is already submitted.
“Look, we’re all in,” Wade said. “You can’t ask for a re-deal. You know we have an SEC roster lock, which is different than most conferences. I think we’re the only conference that has it. And so you know we couldn’t add anybody if we wanted to. I mean, August 24, when we started school — I mean we had a mini session October 7, which takes seven hours. So there’s no turning back from that point forward.”
A Baton Rouge judge signed an injunction Wednesday afternoon enjoining LSU and the SEC preventing the conference from imposing penalties on the program for rostering him.
Luis will remain eligible until representatives for LSU and the SEC appear at a preliminary injunction hearing Nov. 13 that will determine whether Luis will maintain that eligibility. The SEC cannot penalize LSU if Luis is part of the team from the season opener against LSU New Orleans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center until the Tigers’ third game against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 9.
The injunction expires a day before LSU’s first challenging opponent, No. 15 Gonzaga. That game is Nov. 14 at Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane, Washington.
The injunction came after Luis’ attorneys, Tony Clayton and Elliot Abrams, asked a Louisiana judge to block the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey from penalizing LSU if he’s placed on the roster, according to a petition filed Tuesday.
A day after Luis was granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA by Judge Ronald Johnson on Aug. 24, the SEC presidents, chancellors and athletic directors voted to set rules to prevent member schools from rostering athletes who signed contracts with professional leagues like the NBA as well as entering the draft process without appropriately withdrawing.
The penalties for programs that break those rules include a fine equal to 50% of a team’s budget and a half-season suspension for its coach.
During SEC media days on Oct. 13, Wade was asked about the status of Luis, who had previously been practicing with the team, after he didn’t show for the first exhibition game against McNeese State five days earlier
“We’re going to follow all the SEC protocols with him,” Wade said on a virtual call. “I think it’s been pretty clear what the SEC protocols are on all that. He didn’t travel with us to McNeese, and he hasn’t been rostered.”
Before Luis initially committed to LSU on May 19, he was part of two NBA organizations.
After going undrafted in 2025, he signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz in June 2025 before being traded to the Boston Celtics two months later. Luis was waived by the Celtics in October 2025 before signing a deal with its NBA G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. He was then waived by the G League team before the start of the season because of an injury.
Luis averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game at St. John’s during the 2024-25 season, winning Big East Player of the Year honors. He entered the transfer portal but didn’t commit to a new school, deciding to stay in the draft in 2025.
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